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Some companies allow employees to receive their W-2s directly from the office and only mail these wage and tax statements to former employees. Other companies mail IRS Form W-2 to all employees for corporate or administrative reasons, regardless of employee status. The Internal Revenue Service requires businesses to keep any W-2s returned to them as undeliverable for four years. You can take steps to protect your company from unnecessary document storage when mailing W-2s.

Address Verification

Verify the address you have on file for each employee. Employees may move and fail to update their information. This may occur more frequently when you have employees who leave your company during the year. Verifying that you have correct information reduces the risk of W-2s being lost in the mail, reduces the number of phone calls from employees requesting duplicate forms and cuts the amount of time you spend processing such requests.

Labeling

The most efficient method of preparing W-2 envelopes for mailing is to use typed labels. Pre-printed labels reduce the risk of W-2s getting lost in the mail because of illegible or incorrect address information. If you print the forms from a software system, the employee's address is already typed on the W-2. Use W-2 envelopes with address windows for these pre-printed forms -- they can be found at many national office supply stores. Ensure the employee's address shows through the window.

International Employees

If you have employees who live abroad, you must prepare W-2 envelopes for international mail. Package the envelopes in the same manner as for domestic employees but mark them "Air Mail." Ensure the employee's address is correctly labeled for delivery in the country where he lives. Employees who earn U.S. income are generally required to report it to the IRS. Your company is required to provide the W-2 information of all employees to the Social Security Administration, regardless of where employees live.

Mail Deadline

The IRS requires businesses to place employee W-2 documents in the mail no later than Jan. 31. This is earlier than your deadline to provide W-2 documents to the Social Security Administration. Failure to provide the forms to employees by the Jan. 31 deadline may result in penalties from the IRS.

About the Author

With a background in taxation and financial consulting, Alia Nikolakopulos has over a decade of experience resolving tax and finance issues. She is an IRS Enrolled Agent and has been a writer for these topics since 2010. Nikolakopulos is pursuing Bachelor of Science in accounting at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.